An early morning fire in Crescent Heights was contained quickly by firefighters. Police say the fire was started by a minor under the age of 12. -- PHOTO VIA MHPS FACEBOOK
Medicine Hat News
An early morning fire in Crescent Heights was contained quickly by firefighters and the MHPS says it was started by a young boy under the age of 12.
The Medicine Hat Police Service Facebook post says emergency crews responded to the Northlands Multi-Dwelling complex around 2:30 a.m. and were able to contain the fire to the balcony. No one was hurt in the fire.
According to the local police service, since the young boy is under 12 years of age, police are not able to press charges of any kind.
“There’s still an investigation going on, so we can’t say too much about this,” said S/Sgt. Brian Bohrn. “What I can say is that we spoke with witnesses and people on the scene to determine who caused this fire.”
Medicine Hat Fire Department platoon chief Tom Coffey says the fire was contained to the outside of the unit that the fire is still under investigation. He added that the local fire department has a program that works with people who start fires at a young age.
“It’s called a fire setters program,” he said. “It works with children or family members who could potentially be in trouble with fire starting. People come to the fire department talk to investigators and go through certain steps through the family, through family physicians and care givers to support that sort of thing.”
Coffey says with a fire like this, smoke can potentially cause a lot of issues and damage for home owners.
“Even if the fire remains on the exterior, smoke can travel through vents and other channels to get inside,” he said. “If that is the case, you can be looking at smoke damage.
“We’re still looking into this fire and we’ll know more as time goes on.”
